


Treachery Tactics

by Dawn_Blossom



Category: Project Triangle Strategy
Genre: Betrayal, M/M, canon compliant to the demo, schrodinger's shipping bc idk how... close... i want their partnership to be, we'll see how hilariously ooc this reads when the full game's released
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29549007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: Gustadolph knows him far too well. But clearly, Regna does not know Gustadolph at all.
Relationships: Regna Glenbrook & Gustadolph Aesfrost, Regna Glenbrook/Gustadolph Aesfrost
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Treachery Tactics

**Author's Note:**

> *5 minutes into the Project Triangle Strategy demo* DID SOMEBODY SAY BETRAYAL OF A PARTNERSHIP???
> 
> Apparently I just can't learn my lesson about not writing for fandoms pre-release... I think this is actually a record for me, though. Never have I felt the need to write fic *so quickly* for a fandom I have no true understanding of.
> 
> ... I'm looking forward to rereading this after I've played the full game, honestly.

“What say you, King Regna? Do you deny these charges against you?”

“… I do not.”

Regna _cannot,_ despite the falsity of every accusation. To protest now would be to plunge his people directly into war, and without so much as a chance to prepare themselves. Gustadolph knows that. Gustadolph knows that he would never want that.

Gustadolph knows him far too well. But clearly, Regna does not know Gustadolph at all. He thought Gustadolph to be a good man. He thought Gustadolph to be his friend. He thought wrong. He trusted Gustadolph too much, made too many excuses for what appears obvious treachery in hindsight. He failed in his duty as a king.

He can only guess at where it all went wrong. Gustadolph denies it has anything to do with revenge, but Regna cannot help but believe that if circumstances were different… If only Regna had known a better way forward… then Gustadolph would never have been put in any position to betray their partnership now.

And to think it would all come down to the mines in the end… What was supposed to be a fair solution is now tearing the continent apart again. Had he known what he does now back when he was fighting the Saltiron War, perhaps he would have done everything differently from the moment he first drew his sword. Perhaps he would have won a better peace than the one crumbling before them all today.

Or perhaps this world is simply not made for the kind of future he once envisioned. He has blood on his hands; all rulers do, and while he is innocent of the crimes of which he is accused, he is not, on the whole, _innocent._ A king must always think of his people, and so Regna always did, for better or for worse.

When he looks at Gustadolph, he cannot tell what the man is thinking beneath all the layers of his deception. Is he, too, following a path he believes in? Or has corruption so clouded his sight that he can no longer tell what road he is on?

Before Frani’s death, Regna would have had no doubt. Now, it is hard to believe in a traitor.

He still dares to ask Gustadolph to spare his children. If anything of reason remains in him, he will not slay them for the thrill of it.

“The punishment for these crimes is death,” Gustadolph announces to the crowd. “Off with his head!”

He turns away from the public, but not towards Regna, not fully. Regna cannot see his eyes or whether there is any trace of sorrow in them.

“Roland… Cordelia… The future of our kingdom... is in your hands now…”

Regna inhales one last time as he awaits the executioner’s blow. He did not survive the Saltiron War just to cower before death now. Even so, he cannot keep his breath from escaping him in a final sigh.

This is not how he imagined dying for a friend.


End file.
